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Cadets Learn to 'See in Different Ways'
Conquest Visiting Chair Claudia Smigrod shows cadets Angelique Barlow 鈥17 and Albert Wu 鈥17 how to print a positive image from a negative using an enlarger in the darkroom located in Preston Library. 鈥 Photo courtesy of Albert Wu 鈥17.
LEXINGTON, Va., March 7, 2017 鈥 Two new photography courses being taught this spring in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies are exposing cadets to one of the youngest of the visual arts.
Claudia Smigrod, a 34-year veteran of the Corcoran College of Art and Design, is teaching Visual Arts Studio/Light Studies and Optical Culture, along with Graphic: The Identification, Ethics, and Creation of Iconic Photographic Images. Smigrod holds the Edwin P. Conquest 鈥14 Chair within the department, which was established in 1971 for visiting scholars in the humanities.
Between them, the two photography courses enroll 23 cadets, all raised in the era of digital images and smartphone cameras, yet each is learning the roots of photography by developing film in a darkroom. Prior to this course, Smigrod noted, only one cadet had even used a film camera.
Smigrod described the design of the Visual Arts Studio course as 鈥渁 hybrid of working in the wet darkroom and working digitally.鈥
To help her cadets understand the fundamental principles of photography, Smigrod had them make their own pinhole cameras using empty paint cans. They then developed their images in VMI鈥檚 seldom-used darkroom, located in the basement of Preston Library. Doing this, Smigrod explained, helps new photographers better understand the roles of light and exposure.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to be knowledgeable in your field, so you know the historical precedents,鈥 she commented. 鈥淲orking with film is so beautiful. Working in the digital arena should not come at the cost of the analog arena. They both should be able to coexist.鈥
The one cadet who鈥檇 used a film camera before, Albert Wu 鈥17, said that a chance to learn more about film was part of what drew him to the class. 鈥淚 breathe digital photography,鈥 said Wu. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an old thing for me. Film is something I鈥檓 familiar with, but I鈥檓 not an expert on.鈥
Wu has been taking pictures since he was 14 years old and came to VMI with a professional-level camera, which he used at the inauguration of President Donald Trump to take photos that were later posted on the Institute鈥檚 social media. A civil engineering major, he signed up for the photography course to fulfill a humanities requirement鈥攁nd the chance to learn from an expert. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to see what techniques I can pick up,鈥 Wu said.
In Smigrod鈥檚 other class, the one focusing on iconic images, cadets are learning why certain images, such as Joe Rosenthal鈥檚 photograph of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima during World War II, become so incredibly powerful and well-known. What鈥檚 more, they will attempt to create their own iconic images via assignments such as a self-portrait and a photographic documentary of a road trip, whether real or imagined. As Smigrod explained, 鈥淭he images we鈥檙e making now are the future iconic images.鈥
Smigrod is also taking time in the iconic images course to discuss the ethics of photography, such as at what point, if ever, should a photographer move from objective bystander to active participant in the scene he or she is shooting.
鈥淚 just want to shake up their brains,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 want them to think about things that they haven鈥檛 thought to think about yet.鈥
The freedom to explore and create in a new medium attracted Hayley Freeman 鈥17 to the iconic images class. 鈥淔or the iconic photographs, it鈥檚 your definition of what that is,鈥 she noted.
After just two weeks of classes, Freeman found herself appreciating Smigrod鈥檚 teaching style, which includes giving cadets wide latitude in their assignments.
鈥淲hen she gives you an assignment 鈥 she lets you be free and do what you want to do,鈥 she explained. 鈥淔or here, that鈥檚 different. It鈥檚 usually very strict. I love that aspect. When we get to working with the film cameras, I鈥檓 really excited to have the free range to do whatever.鈥
Like Freeman, Smigrod has found herself adjusting to a new environment. Coming to VMI from Corcoran, she鈥檚 discovered that cadets approach the visual arts very differently than did the art school students she taught for decades. 鈥淸Cadets] don鈥檛 have a lot of art baggage, but they don鈥檛 have an art vocabulary,鈥 she noted. To remedy the latter situation, Smigrod takes time to introduce artistic concepts such as positive and negative space.
The visual arts, she believes, have a critically important role to play in a liberal arts education. 鈥淎rt has such a great impact on our life every moment,鈥 Smigrod stated. 鈥淚f someone helps us realize that we have the capacity to see in different ways, and to appreciate us who have come before, we are more educated.鈥
- Mary Price
-VMI-